Box Score Box Score

The High Point University baseball team powered past North Carolina A&T, 16-2, Friday at Williard Stadium. The Panthers got home runs from Ryan Retz and Murray White IV while Sal Pezzino went 4-5 with three runs scored.

“It was great to see our offense come alive tonight,” said head coach Craig Cozart. “We got back to our approach at the plate and the result was 16 runs. We did a solid job on the mound and were sound defensively. North Carolina A&T is a good team though and we have to come out ready to play tomorrow.”

Junior Cody Allen picked up his second win of the season, improving to 2-1. He allowed one unearned run on five hits in six innings of work. Allen had seven strikeouts without walking a batter. Freshman John Maloney pitched two innings of relief, allowing one run with two strikeouts and Nick Schumacher pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the Panthers.

Aggie starting pitcher Esterlin Paulino allowed nine runs, six earned, in six innings with six strikeouts for his first loss of the season. Paulino was relieved by Craig Erskine who gave up seven runs in two innings of work.
The Panthers offense put up six runs in the first inning on six hits, only one for extra bases, a double by Kyle Mahoney. Two N.C. A&T errors in the inning made three of the six runs unearned.

Pezzino doubled to left center to lead off the second inning and came around to score his second run of the game on a Steve Antolik base hit.

HPU made it a 9-1 game with two more runs in the third inning. Pezzino singled with two out to bring up Retz who took the 1-0 pitch from Paulino over the wall in left centerfield wall for his second home run of the season.
After two singles and a pass ball allowed an unearned run to score in the first inning Allen scattered three more hits through six innings, keeping the Aggies from plating a run. Maloney took the mound in the seventh and gave up a two-out run before getting out of the inning.

Erskine took the mound for N.C. A&T in the seventh and walked Robbie Gilles and Drew Geissinger to bring up White with no outs. White hit his first home run of the season to make it a 12-2 game. Erskine recorded two outs but struggled to get the third, giving up a single to Mike Mercurio and a triple to Pezzino which plated Mercurio.

HPU tacked on three more in the eighth to bring the final score to 16-2.

Pezzino finished the night 4-5 with a triple, a double and two singles. He scored three runs and drove in two more.

“I knew they would pitch me hard and inside,” Pezzino said. “I just tried to hit the ball back up the middle. I felt good at the plate tonight.”

Mercurio, Antolik and White had two this a piece and Geissinger scored three runs. The Panthers were also hit by five pitches in the game.

High Point (8-7) and North Carolina A&T (6-9) will play the second game of the series Saturday at 2 p.m. at Williard Stadium. Sophomore Jared Avidon will pitch for HPU.